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Southwest Research-Extension Center

Overview

Southwest Research-Extension Center

The Southwest Research-Extension Center, located in Garden City, Kansas, is a unit of K-State Research and Extension.

Western Kansas Agricultural Research Report

A summary of the research conducted at the western Kansas research stations, including Hays, Garden City, Tribune, and Colby can be found in the 2022 Western Kansas Agricultural Research Report .
 
K-State Research and Extension is a partnership between Kansas State University and federal, state, and county governments. K-State Research and Extension is working to address five grand challenges facing Kansas including global food systems, water, health, developing tomorrow’s leaders, and community vitality. Scientists and extension specialists at the Southwest Research-Extension Center discover new knowledge and work with their local communities to solve current issues related to the grand challenges.

Service Area

The programs and services of the Southwest Research-Extension Center are focused on counties in the southwest portion of Kansas. These include:  BarberClarkComancheEdwardsFinneyFordGrantGrayGreeley
HamiltonHaskellHodgemanKearnyKiowaMeadeMortonPawnee
PrattScottSewardStaffordStantonStevens, and Wichita.

Human Resources

There are 12 research and extension faculty located at Garden City.  Faculty expertise is complemented by 23 full-time support staff including clerical, maintenance, and crop technician classifications. Student workers are hired for the summer field season.  To learn more, visit our faculty and staff page.

Facilities / Land Resources

The headquarters at Garden City includes 27 buildings. There are eight additional buildings at Tribune. Land resources are used for field crops research and production of foundation seed wheat or grain, hay, and silage.

ClassOwnedLeasedTotal
Cropland447279726
Rangeland000
B-R-W <1>10956165
Acres556335891
<1>   B-R-W=Buildings, Roads, Waterways

Fiscal Resources

Funding comes from a variety of sources including state appropriations (salaries and wages, operating, supplemental allocations for equipment and maintenance), crop sales (fees), grants, and gifts.

History

The Garden City Branch of the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station was established in 1907 on 320 acres 5 miles northeast of Garden City. The Tribune Branch was established in 1911. These two branch stations were combined into the Southwest Branch Agricultural Experiment Station in 1986. In 1988, the station was given its current name: Southwest Research-Extension Center.